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Up The Dizzy Hill: How Submitting Your Work Will Make You Feel Like Barfing

Up The Dizzy Hill: How Submitting Your Work Will Make You Feel Like Barfing

By Brianne M. Kohl

When my siblings and I were little, my dad would drive us out Baltzey Valley Road to the Dizzy Hill. It was just a hill, out beyond the pastures and hunt shops, but it was a steep climb with a sudden peak that tipped out into nothing. As we'd crest the hill, the road would disappear for just a moment. With no white lines where the pavement meets gravel and berm, it takes a careful driver to steady the wheel and stay on the road.

At the base of the hill, my dad would gun the engine and we'd close our eyes. I'd grab my sister's hand and wait, trying to count off the seconds in my head to predict the exact moment we'd topple over the other side.

I'd wait to fool gravity for just a moment as I'd come up off the bench seat of my dad's old blue pick-up.

I'd wait to feel the fall of my stomach, that feeling of being almost sick with the dizziness of it.

But, my dad always knew where the road was, even when he couldn't see it and he kept the truck steady until we came down the other side. We'd laugh and clap and beg him to go again but the road leveled out and we kept on.

The first time I drove the hill myself, I crept over it, both hands white-knuckling the steering wheel. You really do lose the road at the most critical point of the hill. Somehow, you get used to the unknown as you drive over it again and again. It took practice but now, if I ever find myself out in Baltzey Valley, I always gun the engine right at the base of the hill and hold my breath.

One of the first stories I ever wrote took place on the Dizzy Hill. I was in the eighth grade and I wrote a story about a ghostly woman in white who would stand in the blind spot of the hill to scare drivers off the road. Her name was Mary and she had no face. If a driver stopped the car, Mary would climb into the back seat and they'd have to drive her around forever.

That story was never published, of course. It was lost somewhere along the way as I struggled to grow up and still be a writer. I've had hundreds of stories that have been lost to time and insecurity. For most of my life, I was too scared to share my work. It wasn't good enough. I wasn't good enough. I didn't trust my own hands on the wheel.

When I submit my stories for publication, I always think of the Dizzy Hill. It is a scary thing, opening yourself up to that kind of consideration. It is a tedious wait full of anticipation punctuated by a vomit-inducing suspension of gravity.

The Dizzy Hill is a risk; Don't be afraid to take the risk - If you were really driving up over the Dizzy Hill, I'd tell you to go slow your first time. It can be disorienting and scary. But, I would never advise you to avoid the hill.

Be smart about it. Practice your craft over and over again. If you have a story or poem that you are ready to shop around, be very mindful of the places you send your work. Read those journals and study the road a bit. Read a journal's submission guidelines and follow them exactly.

Don't be afraid to submit to the big name journals out there. Maybe you'll be that writer who gets published their very first time in Ploughshares or Glimmer Train. I hope that is true. But, don't forget to look at the smaller journals with higher acceptance rates. They typically won't pay so check their social media: do they promote their writers? Is their site or publication professional and error-free? A lot of smaller journals promise "exposure" and sure, the old saying is true that writers often die from exposure. But, it is an unfortunate fact, despite what any editor will tell you, that publication credits beget more publication credits. If you are published in other journals, editors take note. It may not be a deciding factor but it will likely get you noticed in the slush pile.

You Have To Climb The Hill To Get To The Other Side. The idea of the solo genius writer hoarding their work until some powerful editor magically discovers them is romantic and stupid. You have to be persistent in the face of almost constant rejection.

Rejections are awful - no one wants to drive off the road. But unlike actually driving, there is no real danger in getting a rejection. You won't lose control of the wheel. You won't careen off the road and hit a tree, I promise. The absolute worst that can happen is your feelings get hurt. Give yourself the evening to recover and then, in the morning, start back up the hill. Let the editors tell you no - don't tell yourself no.

Rejection is not failure - it is a certainty. If you know this at the base of the hill and you trust yourself, you'll be prepared for it. So when you finally make it to the top and you get that acceptance, you'll get to experience that wonderful dizzying feeling in the pit of your stomach and it won't feel a thing like motion sickness.

Grab someone's hand. Writers need a community. Other writers are not your competition, they are your support. They'll hold your hand as you climb the hill. They'll squeeze it, almost unconsciously, at the exact moment gravity takes your breath away. Writers are in this together.

Be prepared to wait - I've had days where I've checked my email dozens of times. I check the submission stats on Duotrope and I try to game the system. Has my story been out longer than a journal's average? They must love my story! Or, they hate it and I don't even warrant a response. Has it moved to "in-progress" in Submittable? How long has it been there? The more you drive over the Dizzy Hill, the better you'll get at thinking you can predict when you're about to hit the top. But, you just have to be patient, letting the tension build.

Each rejection makes the Dizzy Hill steeper. In a dry spell, the hill can feel like a mountain. Count down the moments, if you need. Game the system to pass the time. But, remember...

...You will lose the road at the most critical point - You've written something wonderful. You've done everything you were supposed to do. You've found the right literary journals to submit your work (notice I said "journals" not "journal"). Those submission guidelines? You've followed them to the letter. Now, prepare yourself to be comfortable with the unknown.

You can't predict what will happen next because it is officially out of your hands. This is where you close your eyes and wait to come up off the seat. Publishing is a waiting game. Sometimes, it takes a really long time to get up the Dizzy Hill.

When the road levels out, keep on - It might take some time but eventually, you'll hit the sweet spot and you'll get that acceptance. You will feel almost-sick with the dizziness of it. Congratulations - this is a high you'll keep chasing over and over. You'll clap and beg to go again. And, you will. But, remember to let the road level out a bit. There are other hills down the road and it is time to write something new. Something wonderful.

Keep moving - the road is long and the climb is steep so keep writing.

Brianne M. Kohl writes and submits her short stories for publication from her home in North Carolina. Her stories have appeared in several publications including Spark: A Creative Anthology Volume IV, The Bohemyth, The Stoneslide Corrective and The Masters Review: New Voices. Visit her at www.briannekohl.com or follow her on twitter: twitter.com/BrianneKohl